by Ophelia Young
Las Vegas (KSNV) — Clark County commissioners approved 429 single-family homes to be built in Red Rock Canyon.
The proposed development will be on a former strip mine within the semicircle that is State Route 159 in the hills across from the Red Rock Canyon Visitor Center.
An original plan with a golf course was approved last August, but the developer Gypsum Resources said the Las Vegas Valley Water District repudiated the golf course.
They returned Tuesday with a plan that replaced the golf course with an additional 150 homes.
Despite pushback from conservation group Save Red Rock, commissioners approved the new application unanimously.
“We have no opposition against building a housing community if it fits within the rural protections,” Heather Fisher, Save Red Rock President, said. “This goes against that, and we don’t think that anybody should be given special rights that other people aren’t given.”
“I think when you really look at it, it’s about property rights,” asserted Lisa Mayo, spokesperson for Gypsum Resources. “You purchase a piece of property, and you paid for it, and you should have a right to build on it.”
Gypsum Resources’ next steps are to design and seek builders–there is no immediate plan to break ground.